Our Locations

Philippines

As the 12th most populated country in the world, the Philippines is made up of nearly 100 million people and comprised of over 7,000 islands. 25% of this substantial population however, are living below the poverty line.

Although the country’s health system is more advanced than others in the South East Asian region, the demand for services from those unable to afford the cost of healthcare usually goes unmet.

The government continues to look for innovative public-private-NGO partnerships as a way to increase the accessibility of healthcare for its citizens.

Eye Surgery in the Philippines

While the rate of avoidable blindness is declining, in some regions it remains high. The Cagayan Valley in the north of the country is one such area. Predominantly a subsistence farming area, the rate of vision impairment is 4.94%, double the country's average. This translates to an estimated 140,000 Filipinos living unnecessarily blind.

Open Heart International has partnered with Adventist Hospital Santiago City to address the issue of such a large population living with operable cataracts.

Our visiting teams work in collaboration with Filipino eye surgeons (ophthalmologists) to increase the number of operations that can be completed. Specialty eye surgery equipment has been transported to and remains in the care of the hospital.

Our goals though reliant on funding, are to provide a sustainable eye centre dedicated to providing greater access to affordable surgery.

We are proud to be participating in medical care missions and health care humanitarian aid in 3rd world destinations such as the Philippines.

Just what does medical humanitarian aid in the Philippines provide?

Each of our medical missions in under developed countries like the Philippines deliver specialist medical attention for medical patients who are unable to access these medical and surgical procedures.

How do overseas clinical non profit organisations assist in the Philippines?

The key purpose of world-wide healthcare charities such as OHI is to help ease the suffering of the residents while maintaining their dignity.

Furthermore, our professional medical mercy missions to the Philippines provide education and support for the community specialists while alleviating the strain on local community medical programs. This is accomplished by reducing very long waiting lists for professional surgical treatments such as eye and cataract surgery.

Healthcare charity volunteers in the Philippines

Our medical and non-medical volunteers provide assistance and coaching to local healthcare staff while providing them with the knowledge and tools to provide more effective medical treatment in the area.

Do children in the Philippines receive help provided by medical mercy missions?

While cataracts mostly affect those in later life, they do sometimes occur in small children. Our foreign medical volunteers provide medical attention to everyone, including babies and small children.